About This Location
Keep walking along Calle de Postas. This short street is a good place to feel how Madrid grew. The city first appears in the historical record in 865 as Mayrit, and centuries later it changed completely when Philip II moved the royal court to Madrid in 1561. That decision turned the nearby old quarter into the political and commercial center of a rising capital. Look at the street around you. It is narrow, busy, and practical. That suits its history. On this street stands the Posada del Peine, founded at the beginning of the seventeenth century beside the main stagecoach stop. It is considered the oldest hotel in Madrid and probably one of the oldest in Spain. This is the kind of detail that explains old Madrid very well - a city of travelers, trade, and constant arrivals. Calle de Postas also carries the sound of everyday Madrid. Benito Pérez Galdós wrote about the commercial bustle of this street and the noise of the mail coaches nearby. That is an important clue to the city. Madrid is not only royal squares and grand buildings. It is also shopfronts, movement, business, and people crossing paths from morning to night. As you continue forward, notice how the street pulls you toward a larger open space. Plaza Mayor was built on the former Plaza del Arrabal, once Madrid's main market. It took shape under Philip III with the design of Juan Gómez de Mora, and after the devastating fire of 1790 it was rebuilt by Juan de Villanueva, who gave it the more ordered form seen today, with arches leading into the square. Keep going straight ahead - in a moment, the street will open and Plaza Mayor will appear in front of you.